# Most outrageous Oscar winners **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 4, 2001, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617 "2001-09-04T03:49:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/41 "2001-09-04T23:15:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lionors \* > \*\*Bleh. Maybe the better question is, why do we agree with the Academy that their opinion on films is worth a pair of fetid dingo’s kidneys? \*\* Maybe it is because it is the people who make the movies telling us which they think are the best. William Goldman always gives his impressions of the Oscars and nominees by prefacing with the fact that nothing he is about to say makes the Academy wrong or him right. It is just his opinion. For example, _Shakespeare in Love_, in my opinion, is a better movie than _Saving Private Ryan_. After the first 20 minutes, _Ryan_ is crap (further ruined by the fact that the movie is the flashback of someone who wasn’t there). I don’t think _Shakespear in Love_ was the best movie of that year, but it was a better movie. ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2001, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/42 "2001-09-04T23:20:01Z")
If _Crouching tiger, Hidden Dragon_ or _Life is Beautiful_ didn’t win for best picture, then it shows that no foreign film (other than from Britain) will ever win in the Best picture category. More the reason I’m rooting for _Shrek_ to win next year. A fall/winter movie will have to blow minds to even compare to this masterpiece. _Zhivago_ was boring; it was an extended classical music video you see in _Classical Arts Showcase_, while TSOM was about a troupe that escaped Nazi clutches while singing about it. Have you guys seen the real Erin Brokovich? Oh my, Julia Roberts portrayed a much subtler, quieter version of her. ---
**Author:** ![Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Michele\_in\_SoCal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michele_in_SoCal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/43 "2001-09-05T02:17:00Z")
This is an oldie, but I still think Rod Steiger (in The Pawnbroker) was robbed when Lee Marvin (in Cat Ballou) got Best Actor Oscar in 1965. Ok, I was only 11, but I remember how blown away I was by The Pawnbroker. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/44 "2001-09-05T02:20:08Z")
Sofa King wrote: > [@](#): > > You think Spielberg’s been screwed by the Academy?! Talk to Hitchcock. Now now, _Rebecca_ did win Best Picture. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/45 "2001-09-05T02:21:51Z")
OK, some of you are just plain being silly. _Saving Private Ryan_ wasn’t even close to as good as _Shakespeare in Love_. _SPR_ had an amazing D-Day scene, and the rest of it was a pretty formulaic war movie, with one of Tom Hanks’ least memorable roles in recent movies (not all his fault, though). And I agree, a lot of you are being too hard on _Rocky_ the First. Standing alone, it is a fantastic movie, that really, really stands up. Mine’s gotta be **Marisa Tomei**. Sorry; that role, and her performance of it, were not Oscar-worthy. I don’t know how she even got nominated; let alone won. And this is coming from a person who would watch her read the phone book. Additionally, how Al Pacino went Oscarless for both Godfather I _and_ II is beyond comprehension. And then they think they make it all better with their “sympathy Oscar,” years down the road. They don’t. Pacino’s performance in _Scent of a Woman_ was very good. Maybe even Oscar-worthy. But it didn’t touch his work in the first two Godfather films. Roberts’ win for _Brockavich_ was undeserved and political in both the Hollywood sense (wanting to get Julia “her Oscar”) and the politically correct sense (kind of storyline that the Academy always goes overboard for). ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/46 "2001-09-05T02:24:36Z")
I want to add that Pacino’s performance in _Scent of a Woman_ (again; while great) was also not as good as his turns in _And Justice For All_ and _Dog Day Afternoon_, either. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/47 "2001-09-05T02:38:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xanadu \* > \*\*I did a search on this and found that “Titanic” won for best picture in 1998, beating out “As Good As It Gets” and “Good Will Hunting.” Titanic?!? What were these people thinking? \*\* I was rooting for **L.A. Confidential** to win. A superb movie. I didn’t think **Titanic** was a _bad_ movie, but it pales in comparison to **L.A. Confidential**. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/48 "2001-09-05T03:06:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Munch \* > \*\*“Saving Private Ryan” over “Shakespeare in Love”? Are you forgetting about “Life is Beautiful”?!? \*\* Christ, I forgot that was from the same year. I think we have a winner there. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/49 "2001-09-05T06:50:55Z")
Milossarian wrote: > [@](#): > > _Saving Private Ryan_ wasn’t even close to as good as _Shakespeare in Love_. I believe [Bad Movie Night](http://www.hit-n-run.com/cgi/read_review.cgi?review=53449_jenlec) sums up my feelings about _Shakespeare in Love_ quite nicely. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/50 "2001-09-05T15:27:10Z")
TSOM was too cutsey, too happy singy. The singing nun, the curtain dresses-blah. Although I DO like _Edelweise_ and _My Favorite Things_. Give me Omar Sharif over Christopher Plummer any day. RRRRROWR! ---
**Author:** ![Mauvaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mauvaise/32/11084_2.png) [@Mauvaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mauvaise)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/51 "2001-09-05T15:39:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LifeWillFall \* > \*\*Alright, Seriously who paid off the votes to get **Forrest Gump** to win best picture over **The Shawshank Redemption**. \*\* I have to agree with this statement. The Shawshank Redemption was, hands down, the **best** movie in that year. Pulp Fiction (which I loved) was also better than Forrest Gump (which I didn’t really like). As for the Cate Blanchett/Gwyneth Paltrow debate. Cate Blanchett was definitely the better actress, but I have to say that SIL was the better movie. While Blanchett was brilliant as Elizabeth, there were too many historical errors in Elizabeth for me to get totally swept away. That’s not to say that SIL was historically accurate, but it was a romantic comedy, it wasn’t supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/52 "2001-09-05T19:02:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LifeWillFall \* > \*\*Alright, Seriously who paid off the votes to get **Forrest Gump** to win best picture over **The Shawshank Redemption**. \*\* In my honest opinion, “Forrest Gump” was ten times better than “The Shawshank Redemption,” which while a decent movie just isn’t Oscar material. I thought “Forrest Gump” was a masterpiece, and I don’t know why people have such an aversion to it, or why they have such a boner for TSR. I do notice that a lot of people who don’t like it thought it was meant as a comedy, when it was (rather obviously) meant more as a serious film, but YMMV. I also think Marisa Tomei was a good choice for Best Supporting Actress. Geez, has anyone even SEEN that movie before they rip her? She was hilarious, and that’s no easier than acting British in a costume drama. And “Rocky” was a great, great movie. I think people assume it was just like the sequels. How wrong you are. The number of BAD choices exceeds the post character limit, but one thought: Peter Sellers didn’t win for _Dr. Strangelove,_ and from that point on the Oscars will always be tainted. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/53 "2001-09-05T19:11:42Z")
A number of you have pointed out that the original **Rocky** was, in fact, a very worthy awardee for best picture. OK, maybe I was being a bit too harsh. I will try to rent it and watch it again. Afer all, 1976 was the height of my snooty time (sophisticated, (pseudo)intellectual), and I probably remember it unfairly. But you’ll never convince me that **Taxi Driver** is anything but a masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/54 "2001-09-05T20:32:24Z")
The Tomei/Basinger question led me to take a look at Supporting Actress winners over the years and I came to a conclusion. Supporting Actresses win on the strength of a standout scene. Time and again, you’ll see that there was one scene in which the winner just wowed the audience. Basinger, in LA Confidential, and Tomei in My Cousin Vinny each had _two_ such scenes. Basinger’s were the scene in her hallway where she and Russell Crowe take digs at one another and ends with her telling him that she wasn’t given plastic surgery, she just changed her hair, and the scene when Russell Crowe hits her, specifically the line “I thought I was helping.” Tomei’s were the “My biological clock is ticking like this! _stomp stomp stomp_” bit on the cabin porch with Pesci, and the excellent courtroom examination scene when she demonstrates her considerable (and, up to that point unseen) knowledge. Were they the best performances overall in their respective years? It’s a good question that can never be answered accurately. But given two power scenes that stick in voters’ minds, an actress becomes a key player in awards consideration. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/55 "2001-09-05T22:50:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Tomei’s were the “My biological clock is ticking like this! _stomp stomp stomp_” bit on the cabin porch with Pesci, and the excellent courtroom examination scene when she demonstrates her considerable (and, up to that point unseen) knowledge. \*\* This transcended all other female supporting roles that year??? ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2001, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/56 "2001-09-05T23:00:19Z")
Did _Gone With the Wind_ really deserve Best Picture? Or should the award have been given to _The Wizard of Oz_? Isn’t it a crime that the original _King Kong_ won no Oscars at all, not even technical awards? Besides the animation effects, the score and sound effects are amazing when you consider that talkies had been around for only five years. Walt Disney received more Oscars than anyone else, but for his two best works, _Pinocchio_ won only for its music and _Fantasia_ won only an honorary award. ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/57 "2001-09-06T02:25:02Z")
I must beat the Elfman drum… There is no way _The Full Monty_ deserved Best Musical/Comedy Score for 1997. While far from my favorite Danny Elfman score, _Men In Black_ was the clear favorite that night. (Though it was clear there was no way the lackluster _Good Will Hunting_ would win over _Titanic_ in the Dramatic Score category.) And _The Little Mermaid_ for Best Score of 1989? You’re kidding! And _Batman_ wasn’t even nominated?? (Neither was _Glory_, but Horner got the nom for _Field of Dreams_ that year.) Then to doubly snub Elfman, his excellent _Nightmare Before Christmas_ score isn’t nominated for '93, despite being the token Disney musical that year! Speaking of '89, it seems odd that _Glory_ beat out _The Abyss_ for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. I mean, which movie had to _invent_ its own sound and camera equipment? Lastly, despite its flaws, _Apollo 13_ is a better Best Picture than _Braveheart_. Though for 1995, I’d have gone with _Dead Man Walking_, which wasn’t even nominated for the top prize that year. ---
**Author:** ![Southpaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@Southpaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southpaw)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/58 "2001-09-06T21:26:23Z")
I’m convinced the Academy didn’t even see Judy Garland’s performance in _A Star Is Born_. Because if they did, they would’ve never given the Best Actress Oscar to Grace “I slept my way to the top” Kelly. While not all of these are bad movies, _Titanic, Chariots of Fire, Oliver!, Tom Jones, West Side Story, Around the World in 80 Days, Greatest Show on Earth_, and _Going My Way_ did not deserve to win Best Picture in their respective years. It’s also a travesty that Barbara Stanwyck, Rosalind Russell, Claude Rains, and Alfred Hitchcock never won Oscars (although Stanwyck & Hitch were given lifetime achievement Oscars). ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/59 "2001-09-06T22:34:24Z")
TheeGrumpy wrote: > [@](#): > > And _The Little Mermaid_ for Best Score of 1989? You’re kidding! And _Batman_ wasn’t even nominated?? Yeah, but _Batman_ didn’t have cute songs performed by crustaceans. Personally, I think it was criminal that James Horner’s score for _Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan_ wasn’t nominated for the Best Score Oscar. It was his best work ever – far better than _Titanic_, which he **did** win for. ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617/60 "2001-09-07T23:34:38Z")
Oh wait, I’m the one who started it. Very well… **ALIENS** didn’t win for 1986, but it was a waste of a nomination. It was nothing more than recycled bits of Khatchaturian and Horner’s own Klingon motif from STIII. The score was cut & pasted (though that wasn’t neccessarily Horner’s fault), with one cue (Bishop’s Countdown) repeated twice within 10 minutes – having replaced the other climactic crescendo, which is later heard at the ending of **Die Hard**! And there’s some of Goldsmith’s original **ALIEN** score used for some cues! But it didn’t win, so there’s no point calling it outrageous. Ironically, Leonard Rosenman’s limp score for ST4:TVH also was nominated that year, so that’s two slots down the drain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-outrageous-oscar-winners/79617.md?page=4)